>> this is abc 7 news at noon. >> it is election day in afghanistan. president obama insists democracy is winning the war. the ballot counting is under way. courtney robinson is following the latest developments. >> amid insurgent attacks all over the country, afghan citizens are voting. >> i've been waiting for this day. since i was not in the country for the last election, i am very happy to have my first vote. >> despite a large presence by security forces of 300,000 nato

and afghan troops, millions are staying away from the polls. numerous rocket and suicide attacks. f-bomb at a line of voters killed a child. several afghan police officers are dead. the attacks killed more than two dozen people in all. but alabama threat closed 13 polls -- the taliban threat. much less than the 2002 election. they're hoping afghan citizens will accept the results. >> generally, it seems to be working well. >> the current president karzai has the most support in southern afghanistan, where there have been the most attacks. abdullah abdullah, his no. 1 competitor, is expected to do well in the northern region. if courtney robinson reporting. >> the investigation into eight

arson cases in damascus intensify. two pictures of a gas can found that one of the fire scenes. tuesday's early morning fire has burned trash cans and mailboxes. the smoke was really think so when rd was shut down. damages at more than $100,000. no arrests so far. looking at the medical records released of the virginia tech shooter cho. he was involuntarily committed for threatening suicide. he met with the three counselors. he claimed it had been a joke after a girl told them to stop contacting our. the reports say he was depressed and had trouble connecting with people, but no threats of violence. a year-and-a-half before he killed 32 people and then himself. a small electrical explosion cleared out the health and human

services building in southwest this morning. a transformer on the top floor blew out. there was no fire. no one was hurt, but the air- conditioning system is broken. authorities and in -- evacuating 300 people off as a precaution from the building while repairs are made. arlington counties as a transportation project designed to ease congestion will only make more of it, so it is a link federal and state officials to stop the interstate 95, 395 kaat lanes before they start. >> it came as a surprise for many morning commuters. arlington is selling virginia and the federal the promise of transportation over hov lane on interstate 95 and 395. they say leave them alone until it's clear how they will impact efforts to clear congestion and improve air quality. >> i hope they win. guek the commonwealth years ago proposed making the commuter lanes, lanes, so that will allow drivers to join the carpoolers

and buses in the restricted lanes. >> the idea is to get more people to this system. you do that by having buses and car pool. >> kabul commuters have opposed the plan because many say it would kill incentives for sharing rides. and organized hitchhiking. >> people have the option of paying to ride. if the have the money to do it, they will. >> others argue the tolls would skyrocket during peak hours after much as a dollar a mile. that will keep the car pulled out alive. >> certain lines will 0away. >> the carpool lanes will become even more congested. although i bling car is adding to the air quality issue. for highway planners decided the impact would be so small, a study is not even necessary. arlington argues, how do they know what impact will be if

there is no study? that decision, the board chairman says it left no choice but to have a lawsuit. >> two virginia lawmakers say metro should go all the way it to woodbridge and potomac barrett they're pushing the proposal today. they say metro road extension down a corridor will help ease traffic. storm clouds are hanging over the washington region. heat and humidity make the progress of before august thunderstorms. brian van de graaff is kping an eye on it. >> hello, pam. we're keeping an eye on hurricane bill as well. ginno popping juye on the radar. let's look at to the clouds from early this morning looking across the sea frlro amington. faz, ogy,dyclgy.ou a hazy, foggy, cloudy.

s. itp ur pe 'laor 0's. 86 in prince frederick. 87 in glen burnie. temperatures will fall from the 90's into the 80's overnight with an acoustic evening. a couple of vendors from won't be very widespread. more on the next couple of days coming up in a few minutes. >> thank you. the midwest to a pounding from the mild weather. six states are cleaning up from tornadoes and thunderstorms that level houses and uprooted trees. now the damage. >> tornadoes and terrible storms terrorized the midwest. >> the pressure was on real. my ears started popping and my house was creaking. i screamed for my children. i was holding them closely. my dog was with me the whole time. >> if sandra and her children escaped what was left of their

house, barefoot, but alive. near springfield, ill., emergency workers attended two motorcyclists to blown off their bikes. >> several tornadoes stopped in twin cities. meteorologist captured one funnel cloud on camera. the view from the ground was even more frightening. >> i could see everything flying in the air. everything. it was like dark. >> the powerful winds downed power lines and uprooted trees. >> it is like a domino effect. if it just kept on. it was like somebody's roof was plotting. >> or tornado lay waste to this iowa farm. its owner had seconds to spare to seek shelter. >> i went to the basement and saw the roof blew off a house and porch and i came back out here for this mess. >> and indiana twister was strong enough to drive bits of houses into cars and ripon wrote off an entire apartment

building. >> i watched the growth go across the street into the other house from my front window. it was wild. >> abc news, chicago. >> firefighters came to the rescue when a window washer became stranded nine stories up. the man was working between the ninth and 11th floors on a building in northwest washington when the scaffolding came loose. firefighters lowerednto the ground. the man was not hurt. he walked out on his own. a second person was able to get down on his own as well. a man accused of setting a deadly fire goes to trial this afternoon. prosecutors said clarence myers said the fire that killed his girlfriend's two daughters. the 12 year-old and a 16 year- old died in february when the fire raced through their home in hancock, maryland. myers admitted starting the fire, hoping to collect donations from the community. police have found the suspect w ho opened fire at an arlington

apple store last month. 21 year-old byron dean was already in jail on unrelated charges. during the doorbell at the back of the stores. a few moments later the woman was shot in the shoulder. she's recovering. a new effort underway in fairfax county to fight underage drinking. police and county and business leaders joining together to introduce something to identify fake i.d. cards. the responsibility toolkit includes a small magnification tool for restaurant and bar staff. local leaders are starting education campaign on the dangers of the underage drinking. it will soon cost more to use valet parking in the district because it will charge restaurants more to get permits. businesses that offer valet four days a week must park cars and in austria lots. businesses say if they cannot use jpra parking, that may have to pull the brakes on the service. -- they cannot use street

parking. >> it's ridiculous. >> new regulations are being put into place to address problems related to valet parking, not to make money. enrollment at traditional public schools in d.c. is less than half what it was 29 years ago. in 1980 there or 100,000 students. 45,000 are expected on next monday. charter schools began in d.c. in 1996. students this year. the time is running out for d.c. students to get to the vaccines they need before going back to school. the district has set up four vaccination clinics. parents can get their children vaccinated at miller middle school, kramer middle school, and coolidge high school and one of its corporate from 2:00 this afternoon until 10:00 tonight. coming up, the only man convicted in the pan am flight

103 bombing is a free man. also, a gender test for this controversial kenyan runner. brian is watching out for

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>> he blew up pan am flight 100 rebounds for new york and killed still hundred 70 people off in lockerbie, scotland in 1988. the only man convicted in the bombing is a free man today, on his way back to libya. he has terminal cancer and was released on compassionate grounds. lynsey davis reports, that means nothing to the victim's loved ones. >> convicted of 270 counts of

murder and was sentenced to life. today, brahney boarded a plamege plane of free man. he only has about three months to live. they granted him a compassionate release. but kathleen quinn says there was no compassion for her son flying home for the holidays when the pan am flight 103 exploded over lockerbie, scotland. >> you don't allows someone who has murdered toole hundred 70 innocent people and let them walk away. >>- 270 innocent people. >> he was the only person convicted of the 1988 bombing. >> something he did not do. >> but the u.s. government says

he is guilty. >> i think it's wrong to release someone who haseen in prison, based on the evidence about his involvement in such a horrendous crime. >> some british relatives of the victims believe the man should go free. they have doubts he was guilty in the first place. >> i think it would be inhumane and downright cruel to keep the man in prison to die. >> he will spend the rest of his life in libya with his family now. reporting from new york, lynsey davis. >> funeral serviceill be held in the d.c. area for journalist robert novak. he died tuesday after a battle with brain cancer. viewing this evening from 4:00 until 7:00 at st. patrick's catholic church in northwest. for a funeral will be there tomorrow at 10:00 followed by a private burial. senator edward kennedy has written a letter to massachusetts leaders asking

that they change state law allowing speed replacement of them in congress. if massachusetts changed its success of law in 2004 to require a special election to fill any vacancies. there is no change in his condition. he was diagnosed with malignant brain tumor in 2008. president barack obama goes on line and on the radio to promote his health-care overhaul. at 1:00 the president will talk with a radio talk-show host and promote his plan and an on-line address later this afternoon on a current. on a conference call yesterday the president told cardmembers he wants everyone to know what health insurance reform is all about. for if you are still hoping to trade in your old car for a new one, you better hurry. winding down a popular "cash for clunkers" program that offers car buyers rebates for trading in old cars are more fuel- efficient ones.

if this weekend the obama administration will announce plans to end the program, while ensuring all vouchers issued by dealers are reimbursed. >> there will be no car dealer that won't be reimbursed. >> small amount of transactions that have been done, have been paid by the federal government. >> the national auto dealers association says $1.9 billion in claims have been made. that means a billion left. there's a backlog of transactions not yet accounted for. dozens of dealers have dropped out because they've not been paid yet. speculation is growing around the south african track star reportedly accused of being a man. at the track and field world to a championship, someshe was forced to undergo a jendrick test. she won 800 meter world championships yesterday. her father and others insist

she's a girl. >> it's crazy. the weather is so nasty, hot and humid. >> it is sticky. >> by saturday night, the dry air is coming back and it's going to be nice again. first, i want to start with kids i've visited today at the greenbriar learning center in arlington on seventh road and talked to them about meteorology and the weather. we talked about the storm chasers and all the gadgets we have. hopefully inspired some of them to participate in the weather when they grow up. of n.inadthotat hfu a l thanks for having me there. let's look at what's going on for us. off the coast in the middle of the atlantic we have hurricane bill. it's off to the northeast of puerto rico. it is going to miss the antilles

and the mainland u.s. and it's going to be to the west of bermuda. it will rip up the surf along the eastern seaboard for the weekend. schwind at 120 miles an hour, gusting to 150. it could be intensified to a category four. it should stay out to sea, which is good news for us around here. make sure you swim near the lifeguards and follow the flags, in case there it was foggy this morning. middletown, md. there was fog. then we havsomehi smendunens skh w more clouds developing. partly cloudy today. 91. when you factor in the humidity, it feels like 100. potomac, 89, 99. 89 and stacker akilah 98. -- stafford feels like 98.

there's cooler air off to the west. it will eventually work into the mix. we've been watching for showers and thunderstorms. a few sporadic showers in west virginia, runs off to the west. that is part of a cool front that will eventually bring changes. until then, high pressure off the coast. pumping up the heat and timidity and making for a human mess. the front coming from the west will bring us cooling on the weekend. 85-90 this afternoon. upper 70's tonight. close to the upper 60's in the morning. scattered since thunderstorms possible this evening. another round of foggy weather tomorrow. near 90 with sunshine tomorrow. saturday, clouds and then sunshine. temperatures in the low to mid 80's. low humidity early next week. >> thank you so much.

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>> welcome back. it's a good idea to keep your eye on the sky today and bring an umbrella. >> we need some rain. the last couple of days have been hit or miss. if you want your yards to be watered, it usually doesn't happen. look at to the weather for the next couple of days. and the storms today and tomorrow. saturday could be a wet today with soaking rain. behind that system, cooler dry air in the 60's at night with low to mid 80's 4 afternoon highs on monday and sunday. we just have to get there. >> thank you so much. thank you all for joining us this midday. we will be back at 5:00 in the morning.